Four-way pallets



June 8, 1965 r. J. DEsBols 3,187,690

FOUR-WAY PALLETs Filed Deo. 20, 1962 73y 74) Kiki? INVENTOR. Yoore J.- eSoz'S ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,187,690 FOUR-WAY PALLETS Theodore J. Desbois, 423 Hyde Park Blvd., Niagara Falls, N.Y. Filed Bec. 20, 1962, der.k No. 246,086 13 Claims. (Cl. 10S-58) The invention of this application relates to pallets and is particularly concerned with four-way pallets, i.e. pallets which can be picked up from all four sides.

Itis an object of the invention to provide a pallet of the character described which is of simple, inexpensive construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet of the character described which is reversible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet of the character described which may be constructed of only three types of parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pallet of the character described which is light weight and occupies a minimum of space.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pallet of the character described which is versatile in use.

The foregoing objects are fully achieved by a symmetrical pallet which has identical top and bottom faces, a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation showing a pallet according to the present invention loaded with a carton;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the pallet;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, partial, transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the pallet shown in FIGURE 2 with a loading sheet thereon; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, enlarged, sectional view taken on line 6 6 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to FIGURES 2-4, inclusive, it will be seen that the pallet, generally designated by the reference numeral 11 is formed by securing together a plurality of identical face boards 13 and identical, elongated spacing blocks 14. The face boards 13 are trapezoidal in shape and relatively thin and eight of them are used to construct the octagonal pallet shown.

Four of the spacing blocks 14 are used in constructing a pallet, each block being substantially as long as one side of the octagonal pallet and as high as the vertical clearance desired for the fork of a lift truck. The blocks are arranged in facing substantially parallel pairs and each block is spaced equally from adjacent blocks.

Each face of the pallet consists of four face boards 13 arranged with the shorter of their parallel sides outward and secured at their ends, for example by nails 15, to spacing blocks 14. The adjoining ends of the face boards 13 are parallel to each other and to the outer faces of the spacing block to which they are secured. Thus the octagonal pallet has alternate sides comprising a spacing block and the intervening sides have spaces between the face boards and on each side of a spacing block for entry of the fork of a lift truck, the top face boards comprising the load-carrying members.

In FIGURE l the pallet 11 is shown supporting a large carton 20 such as is used extensively in the shipping of high cost bulk materials. An advantage of the present novel pallet for the carrying of such cartons is that no stress is placed on the carton during loading and unloading. Another important advantage is that the carton may be emptied through the bottom thereof while suspended over a bin, hopper, or conveyor belt since the hollow center of the pallet 11 leaves a substantial portion of the carton bottom exposed. If desired, of course, the carton ice 20 may be secured to the pallet 11 by any suitable means, A

such as adhesive, indicated at 21 in FIGURES 3 and 4, or by straps, staples or other mechanical means (not shown), to prevent the carton from being dislodged.

When 4it is desired to employ the novel octagonal, opencentered pallet ofthe present invention for carrying small cartons, bags and the like it may be easily adapted for such use. A preferred way` of doing this is illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6. As there shown, a large sheet 22 of fiber board or the like, plywood, or even metal is placed over the pallet 11 to cover the central opening therein and distribute the load. In FIGURE 5 the sheet 22 is shown as octagonal, corresponding in shape to the pallet but it will be understood that the shape and size of the sheet may vary as desired so long as the central opening of the pallet is substantially covered and there is sufficient support for the sheet around the periphery thereof. Y

To prevent shifting of the sheet 22 with respect to the pallet it is preferred to provide clips 23 at spaced points on the under surface of the sheet to engage the pallet, the clips as shown being secured to the sheet by'eyelets or rivets 24. The clips, as best shown in FIGURE 6, may engage the inner edges of the face boards 13 on the top of the pallet. Since the face boards are identical in size and are so arranged that opposite boards on each face of the pallet are substantially parallel the load-distributing sheet may be placed on the pallet in any of four directions. The inner edges of the boards may be provided with indentations such as grooves 25 to engage with the clips or frictional contact only may be relied upon. The shape and exact placement of the clips is not critical. Indeed the sheet 21 may be retained in place by other means such as locating pins (not shown) or it may be nailed, stapled, or adhesively secured to the top face of the pallet 11.

Ie will be understood that the construction of pallets according to the present invention may vary somewhat from the preferred embodiment illustrated without departing from certain basic principles of the invention. Thus the base of the pallet and the load carrying portion thereof may each be formed of less or more than four face boards. Also, of course, the pallet need not be of regular octagonal shape but can be elongated in one direction and if desired the facing boards may be of such shape as to give a rectangular or other outline. It is improtant, however, that the spacing blocks be arranged so that each pair of facing blocks is substantially parallel so that the blocks partially define the four sides of a rectangle and that the blocks be of such size and so spaced that the fork of a lift truck may enter between each pair of facing blocks in both directions. Thus the pallet may be picked up from four sides.

Although as pointed out above the construction of the pallets according to the invention may vary an Octagonal pallet with central opening such as illustrated in the drawings is generally preferable. Its construction is sim plied as all of the face boards are the same size as are all of the spacing blocks. Thus a supply of substantially identical face boards, substantially identical spacing blocks and suitable fastening means is all that is required for making any desired number of pallets. Moreover, being regular, i.e. symmetrical around four horizontal axes the use and placing of loaded pallets is simplified. The central opening reduces the weight and where the base and load carrying portions are identical the pallet can be used v with either side up. This may be advantageous in the event one of the facing boards is damaged since even a cracked board in the base would not make the pallet unusable.

Pallets according to the present invention are preferably constructed of wood and are of such inexpensive construction that they may be discarded after one use if desired. However, their light weight as compared to standard Wood pallets will in many cases make it feasible to ship them back for reuse. It will be understood that lumber being somewhat variable the dimensions of the wood pieces may differ somewhat although for practical purposes they may be considered identical. Also, of course, perfect spacing of parallelism is not requiredfor practical purposes.

Pallets accordingto the invention may be constructed, if desired, from other materials.` Thus hard board, resinimpregnated brer board, orf similar durable products, e.g. reinforced plastic sheets, maybe used instead of` wood for pallet members if desir-ed.r Suitable'means, such, forexample, as screws or rivets may be used in fastening such members together. Metal may also be used, ribs orl corrugations being provided in sheet metal for imparting rigidity. The metal members may be fastened'together by suitable means such as welding or in any other desiredY way.

I claim:

1. A four way pallet for supporting articles in such manner. that they may be readily transported by conventional fork-lift trucks having a fork comprising a pair of projecting parallel members which comprises spacing.

means consisting of four spacing blocks; base means directly attached to one face of each of said blocks; and substantially identical load-supporting means-directly attached to the opposite faces of each of said blocks; said blocks being arranged in spaced parallel pairs whereby to define with their outer faces the central portions of the four sides of a rectangle and being of such size and so spaced as topermit entry of the fork of a fork-lift truck between each pair of parallel blocks and said base means being open at the center of said pallet.

2. A pallet as set forth in claim 1 in which said blocksV are elongated and arranged with the longer dimensions parallel in each pair and in which both blocks of each pair are substantially equally spaced from both of the blocks of said other pair.

3. A pallet as set forth in claim 1 in which said base means comprises a plurality of face members.

4. A pallet as set forth in claim 3 in which each of said face members is attached to at least two spacing blocks.

5. A pallet as set forth in claim 3 in Whicheach of said face members is attached to two adjacent spacing blocks.

6. A pallet as set forth in claim 3 in which all of said face members are substantially the same size and shape.

7. A pallet as set forth in claim 3 in which all of said spacing blocks are substantially the same size and shape.

8. A pallet as set forth in claim 5 in which each of said spacing blocks has attached thereto a pair of face members.

9. A pallet as set forth in claim 8 in which all of said spacing blocksy and all of said face members are substantially the samek size and shape.

10. A pallet as set forth in claim 5 in which said base means comprises four face members, each face member being of trapezoidal shape. y

11. A pallet as set forth in claim 10 in which each of said spacing blocks has attached thereto a pair of face members, said face members being arranged with their shorter parallel sides projecting outwardly whereby to form an octagonal pallet.

12. A pallet as set forth in claim 10 in which all of said face members are substantially the same size and shape.

13. A load supporting device comprising a pallet as set forth in claim 8 and a load-distributing sheet supported by the upper face members of said pallet and attached to said pallet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,369,944 2/ 45 Cahners 108---57v 2,493,562 l/ Yarman 108-58 2,503,022 4/50 Benoist et a1 10S-58 X 2,542,129 2/51 Fletcher 108-58 X 2,597,411 5 52 Vankrimren 108-57 2,645,281 7/53 Hurst 248-164 X FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.y 

1. A FOUR WAY PALLET FOR SUPPORTING ARTICLES IN SUCH MANNER THAT THEY MAY BE READILY TRANSPORTED BY CONVENTIONAL FORK-LIFT TRUCKS HAVING A FORK COMPRISING A PAIR OF PROJECTING PARALLEL MEMBERS WHICH COMPRISES SPACING MEANS CONSISTING OF FOUR SPACING BLOCKS; BASE MEANS DIRECTLY ATTACHED TO ONE FACE OF EACH OF SAID BLOCKS; AND SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL LOAD-SUPPORTING MEANS DIRECTLY ATTACHED TO THE OPPOSITE FACES OF EACH OF SAID BLOCKS; SAID BLOCKS BEING ARRANGED IN SPACED PARALLEL PAIRS WHEREBY TO DEFINE WITH THEIR OUTER FACES THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE FOUR SIDES OF A RECTANGLE AND BEING OF SUCH SIZE AND SO SPACED AS TO PERMIT ENTRY OF THE FORK OF A FORK-LIFT TRUCK BETWEEN EACH PAIR OF PARALLE BLOCKS AND SAID BASE MEANS BEING OPEN AT THE CENTER OF SAID PALLET. 